Just For a Moment
by Bryan Luft
Summary: When 2 brothers run away from home, they find out they are not only running away from there parents, but from someone else, or something else.


The rain was pouring down so hard it almost cracked the windshield. Dave knew if we got caught, it would be the end of the road for us. He made a hard turn left to go towards the interstate. The car whipped so hard, I slid into him. He pushed me off and looked in the rearview mirror, seeing only red and blue lights. "Were not going to make it," he said turning onto the interstate. "Yes we are, just put keep at 50 and don't lose control" I said looking behind us. Dave kept saying we were going to lose control, which would make sense since 2 inches of rain had already fallen. My brother wasn't the best driver. He didn't even get his license until he was a freshman in college. It didn't matter though. Both our lives were over. If we get caught this time it would be over. We can only outlast this thing for so long. And the worst part is, the cops actually think we are the ones killing the people, that's why they're after us. Dave was a junior in college, majoring in Science. I was just starting college. "What the hell do I do now?" Dave yelled looking at the road ahead. It was filled with cops. I didn't know what to do. "Think of something!" I yelled. "Put on your seatbelt" Dave said putting his on as well. We kept heading towards the line of cops, gaining speed every second. We were practically right in front of them, and then my brother did the craziest thing. He cranked the steering wheel to the left. The cops got out of their car watching as the car went off the edge, and into the river.

**1 week earlier**

"Pick up your goddamn clothes" mother screamed when she barged into my room. "Get the fuck out mom," I screamed back. "This isn't your room". "Thomas, you clean this room, or you get the hell out. You're an adult now, if I want to kick you out, I will" mother said. "Mom, I just turned eighteen a day ago. Stop treating me like I own this house. Get out and shut the door," I yelled. She slammed the door and stomped down the stairs.

I can't take much more of this. Dave already left before he turned eighteen. He couldn't take mother marrying guys who kept beating on him. I'm about to do the same.

My room is already trashed from my stepfather coming in when I was at school. He was drunk, and needed to get his anger out, so he threw all my shit on the floor. When I came home, I yelled at my stepfather for what he did. He socked me and said he could whatever he felt like doing. If only I had money, and a place to stay, I would be out of here. I got on my computer and started doing my homework.

I could hear my mother telling my stepfather to come up here and teach me a lesson. She can't do anything, except clean after her husband, or sleep. I didn't care what my stepfather did. I was so pissed off right now: I could probably take him. But I didn't feel like getting my face bruised up anymore. I thought it would be ok to go over to my girlfriend's house, her parents were so nice, they wouldn't mind. Tara and I have been friends for about 3 years. We never thought about making it official, but in time, who knows what will happen.

I started hearing footsteps coming up the stairs. I ran to my closet and packed a day's worth of clothes. "Tom, open this door right now" my step dad said banging on the door with some object. I tried opening the window but it was stuck. "Tom, either open this door, or I'll knock it down!" he said hitting the door even harder. He must've been drunk again, which means he'd probably do something insane, something a sober person wouldn't do. I used all the strength I had to push open the window, but it wouldn't budge. I then see a metal sharp object going through my door. He had a knife! "Jim, put down the knife" mom said from down the stairs. But he was too drunk to care. He kept stabbing away at the door, laughing. I picked up my computer chair and threw it against the window, and watched the window shatter into pieces. "You're going to pay for that," Jim said almost through the door. I grabbed my backpack, and crawled out the window. When I was out the window, I turned back around to Jim. "Hey Jim" I said yelling across the room. "Go fuck yourself you homo" I said throwing one of my heavy books at his face. I heard rolling down the stairs, and started laughing. The impact must have hit him pretty hard. I climbed down the roof, and landed on the car. I started jogging towards Tara's house, still laughing about what I did. I could see my breath as I was running. I'd say it was around 20 degrees outside.

I was halfway down the street, when I heard a screen door shut. It was Jim. He got into his car, and backed out hitting our garbage cans sitting outside. I ran into the bushes, and hid there for about 3 minutes. I got on my cell phone and called Tara. I asked her if it was ok if I stayed the night tonight, although if she said no, I would've been screwed. She said yes though, which took that fear out. I watched as my step dad drove away, probably heading towards the bar.

I knocked on Tara's window, hoping she was still awake. I saw a light turn on, and stood away from the window. "You don't know anything about me mom, you're always drunk all the damn time to find out" I heard coming from the window. I have never seen this side of Tara's parents. Apparently she hasn't been telling me about her real life. I heard a slap, and then something hitting the ground. Then came the screaming. "Mom, stop kicking me" Tara yelled. "You need to learn a lesson girl, and goddammit, I'm going to teach you it," her mom said kicking her. I kicked open the window, shattering the glass. "Get the fuck off her" I said throwing her mom against the door. "Steven!" Tara's mom yelled falling to the floor. I had no idea those bruises Tara got when I saw her at school were from her parents. She just told me it was from the sports she played. "Hold on!" I heard the dad yell as he was coming up the stairs. "Tara, go downstairs and grab the car keys, wait for me!" I said to her. "What about father" she said worried. "I'll take care of him," I said grabbing a piece of glass from the window.

The dad flew open the door and grabbed Tara. "Hey!" I yelled getting his attention. I grabbed his shirt and threw him against the wall. I watched as Tara ran down the stairs and got the keys. Steven got back up and ran at me. We both flew onto the bed, and I saw blood come out of the father's mouth. I looked down and saw that he landed on the glass shard. I pushed him off me, in shock. I saw Tara's father bleed to death on her own bed.

I turned around and saw the mother calling the police. I ran downstairs and outside. Tara was waiting in the front seat for me to get in. I got in the driver's seat and started up the car. "What happened in there?" she said. "Your mom is calling the police," I said hoping she wouldn't ask about her father. "Well, what about dad" she said. "Well, I think he's unconscious, I hit him with a piece of wood" I said backing out of the car. I looked in the mirror to see tons of cop cars zooming this way. "Hold on" I said putting the car in drive. I hit the gas and watched the tires burn out. I watched as the speed quickly crawled up to 70. I made a tight turn to the left heading towards Main Street. The cops stayed close behind. I was working with a stick shift, so it was hard to control. I had to curve and turn between all the other cars going around 40 miles an hour. I turned right onto a gravel road, hoping I'd lost them. I steadily stayed at 50 going on the gravel. We went on this road for about 20 miles and turned left onto paved road. I followed the speed limit from there on out, hoping not to cause attention.

The whole car ride stayed quiet throughout the rest of the night. We both were realizing that we couldn't go back. I especially couldn't go back, now that I'm wanted for murder. There was no way I was going to tell Tara that I just killed her father. We both just sat in silence, watching the clock in the car turn 3am. "So what now" Tara said. "I'm trying to find a place to stay," I said looking for signs.

I drove for another 30 miles or so until I found this crappy, 14 room motel. I turned right, into the parking lot and parked the car behind the motel, just in case any cops were driving on this road. I went into the office and asked the clerk for a room key. He gave us # 9. I went back out into the car and gave the key to Tara. I told her to go inside while I get everything and bring it in.

When I got inside, the room was dark. The only light was from the TV. Tara was already asleep on the bed. She was covering the whole bed, so I just laid a blanket on the floor and fell asleep there.

I couldn't sleep. I kept thinking about what was going on back home. I started realizing how Dave, my brother felt. I'm not surprised Dave ran away, living there was so much hell. But why would he abandon his own brother is the question I kept asking myself. It is also the question that put me to sleep: a deep sleep.

When I woke up, it was dark out. I figured I had only been sleeping an hour or so, maybe around 5am. But I looked at the clock, it was 7pm. "Tara" I said waking her up. But she wasn't at her bed. I put on my shirt and ran out of the room. I started looking around. I went into the main office and asked the clerk if he had seen anything. "Nope, just been lying around" he said.

I went back into the room and started worrying. The thought of someone coming in the room and taking her just creeps me out. Maybe her parents found us; maybe they followed us the whole way here.

I went back outside to see if the car was gone, it was. That kind of relieved me in some ways, thinking she might've just gone out. I went back inside and took a cold shower. It's the only thing that could really wake me up.

"Thomas, are you in there" I heard Tara say a half hour later. "Who else would it be?" I said yelling over the sound of the water falling. "Where did you go?" I said. "I went out, look for a gas station or something, so we could get some food," she said. "Well next time, maybe you should tell me, before I worry myself to death" I said getting out of the shower. "Did you find anything?" I said coming out of the bathroom. "Well, I found a sign that said there was a gas station about 60 miles from here" she said. "But I didn't want to go until we left this motel permanently". "Well" I said. "We should probably pack up and leave this place, I don't feel like using the rest of my money to rent this crappy room another night". "Ok, I'll go start the car" she said grabbing the keys.

I put all our things in the trunk, and got in the car. "You ready to go" I said to her. "Yes, finally" she said. I started the car up, and we got back on the road. "Tom, what exactly are we doing?" Tara said. "What do you mean?" I said puzzled. "Well, all we are doing is finding motels, and staying there. We'll eventually run out of money, then what," she said. "All we need to do is find a town, and ask someone for a place to stay for awhile. We can tell him we'll get jobs and pay him or her for letting us stay. I know it's a crappy plan, but we really got no choice," I said. "Why can't we just go back in a few days?" she said. "No, we are not going back" I said getting nervous. "Thomas, I'm sure our parents will eventually forgive us, it's not that big of deal" she said convinced I would agree.

I pulled the car over to try and convince her not to go back. "Tara, you'd be in great danger if you went back. When I was fighting with your dad, he told me he'd kill me, then kill you," I said lying right through my teeth. "He said that!" Tara said shocked. "Now you see why we can't go back. So stop thinking like that, and lets think of something else," I said getting back on the road.

I saw the sign Tara was talking about back at the motel. A gas station would be coming up in about 60 miles. It should only take a half hour if I speed. I doubt we'd see a cop on this road. I haven't seen a car the whole way here.

It started raining about 10 miles from the gas station. With it being so dark, and no lights around except my headlights, I was starting to get scared. "Thomas, just go slow and it will be ok," Tara kept saying. "Tara, I can't go slow," I said gaining speed. "Why not?" she said. "Look behind us" I said looking in the mirror. There was a car following us, and the car was gaining speed as well. Then the car lights turned on. It was a damn cop. I don't think he knew who we were; he just wants to stop us because I was speeding.

"Tara, switch seats" I said trying to move seats while still steering. "Grab the wheel now" I said sitting in the front seat. "Ok, now pull over" I said.

She pulled over and we waited for the cop to get out. No one got out. "What the hell is he doing" Tara said getting cold. "Just hold on," I said. He might be looking at our license plate, if so, get ready to hit the gas" I said. "He can't see our license plate out here, even if he did use his light, it's still to dark" Tara said. We both sat there, staring at the car. It was dead silent. I couldn't even hear Tara breathing. "Should I get out?" I asked Tara. "No, absolutely not" she said sternly. "Well, I can't just go" I said. I turned back around and just sat there. Tara never turned around though. She stared at the cop car, not taking an eye off it.

After 10 minutes of just sitting there, I decided to get out. "No Tom, don't be an idiot, just stay in the car," Tara said grabbing my hand. "Were going to be sitting here for hours at this rate," I said opening my door. I stepped out and took one step towards the car. Out of nowhere, the so-called cop stuck his gun out of the car and fired. "Holy crap!" I said getting in the car.

I put my foot on the gas and pressed down as hard as I could. I don't think I'm exaggerating when I say that the car went from about 0 to 80 in a matter of seconds. The wheels burned out so much; the smell was getting in the car. The weird thing was, the cop car didn't follow us. It just sat there.

We pulled into the gas station and got a spot to fill up. I asked Tara if she wanted to go inside, or pump. She said she wanted to pump, which isn't a surprise because I know Tara wouldn't go in a public place without her makeup on.

I got out of the car and went inside. I didn't know exactly what to look for, so I just walked around until Tara was done pumping. I went to the frozen section, hoping they had Oreo ice cream. But they didn't. So I just went into the candy section and got Oreos. I looked at Tara, and she was sitting on the car. Her eyes were heavy, which means she must be getting tired. I could either take her back to that crappy motel, but that would require going passed the creepy cop car that shot at me. I'll look for another motel instead. We obviously didn't have much gas left in the car, so filling it up must take awhile. I went to the bathroom to waste time. I never really like Gas Station's bathrooms, they were always so small, and dirty. And they always had the weirdest things in them. They actually had a tampon dispenser in a boy's bathroom. That really scared me, so I left without using the bathroom.

When I opened to the bathroom door to exit, I saw a stranger leaving the gas station. The crazy thing is, even from looking at him from the back, he looked so familiar. He had his arm around a girl, full of piercing and tattoos. The stranger turned around to throw something away, before getting into his car and leaving. I almost fainted. I was seeing two of everything. That stranger looked my brother, Dave. The brother that I haven't seen for years. I ran out the door and into car. Tara was already sitting inside, waiting for me. I turned the car on, and burned out as I left the station. "Well?" Tara said as we got back on the road at full speed. "Well what?" I said concentrating on finding the car that could possibly have my older brother in it. "How much did it cost?" Tara said confused. "How much did what cost?" I said getting angry at the fact that she said that twice now. "How much did the gas cost you idiot?" she said demanding an answer. "Oh shit!" I said remembering I didn't pay. "You forgot?" she said looking back, making sure no cops were following us. "Why didn't you pay?" she asked. "And why are you so going so fast, no one is following us". "I think I found my brother," I said to her. "You did not find your brother Thomas, you were just probably seeing things," she said. "Only one way to find out" I said hitting the gas.

By this time, it was raining pretty hard out, and I couldn't see anything. I knew that the car wasn't that far ahead of us, so I slowed down, and drove at a normal speed until the rain stopped.

An hour later, when the rain stopped, I could see the car up ahead. Tara was sleeping, so she wouldn't care if I went faster. I passed a few cars, and got behind the car that I thought would have my brother in it. I started honking the horn, trying the get the stranger's attention. After over 10 honks, he finally pulled to the curb. I pulled up behind him and waited for him to get out. It was starting to get a little light out, must have been around 6am.

I waited for someone to come out of the car. I wasn't getting out of the car, that much I knew. A person finally stepped out of the drivers seat. The closer he came, the more he looked like my brother. When he was about 10 feet from the car, I got out and ran towards him. "Dave!" I yelled running towards him. "Thomas?" he said walking faster. "What the hell are you doing here?" Dave said hugging me. "Well, it's kind of a long story, but I can tell you this, I can't go back home" I said to him. "What did you do?" he said to me. "Dave, didn't I just tell you I couldn't tell?" I said to him laughing. "Ok, ok" he said backing off the subject. "Well, where are you heading" he said leaning against Tara's car. "I'm just trying to get away from home," I said. "Far as I can".

Dave and I chatted about the good times we had growing up. We started getting to where we got older, which was kind of touchy, so we didn't bother. I just told him we should be heading out now. "Well, if you have no plans" he said to me. "You can always follow us, were going up about 100 more miles to a hotel, not those crappy motels, if you want to come" Dave said to me. "That sounds great," I said getting into the car. "Just go really fast," I yelled to him. "Why?" he said. "Well, you know that gas station back there" I said. "Yah, what about it" he said getting into his car. "I forgot to pay for gas," I said laughing. I could hear him laughing really hard as well.

I think Dave took my statement a little far. When I told him to go fast, he really dug that into his head. We were going 175, waving through cars on the highway. "Thomas, slow down" Tara kept saying. "I can't," I said laughing. "If I go any slower, were going to lose him". The water on the road from the rainstorm earlier was flying through the air and landing on the windows. Tara looked scared the whole way to the hotel. "Tara, calm down" I said. "It's going to be ok". I was finally catching up to Dave's car. He was still going pretty fast, around 120, but even that calmed Tara down.

It was pretty late when we arrived at the hotel. "Um, Dave" I said to him getting out of the car. "What dude" he said back. "This is not a hotel," I said laughing. "Yes it is," he said pointing to the hotel sign. "Dude, this looks like the motel in the movie Psycho," I said laughing. "Just shut up and get your room key," he said.

When Tara and I got into our hotel room, the first thing she did was get on the bed and fall asleep. I went over to Dave's room, and his girl was sleeping as well. "Dave, can we talk?" I said knocking on the door silently. "Sure man," he said motioning towards the bed for me to sit down. "What's on your mind little brother?" he said. "Why did you leave us?" I blurted out without even thinking. Whatever Dave had to say, it must've been important, because he made sure his girlfriend was sleeping, and we went to the other side of the room. "I didn't runaway," Dave said. "What are you talking about" I said. You ran away: don't get out of it. I just want to know why" I said. "Thomas, when I say I didn't runaway, I didn't!" he said. He really meant it to. "Then would you mind telling me what happened, because it's been on my mind for quite a while now" I said with a serious look on his face. "Ok Tom, what I'm about to tell you, cannot leave this room" he said even more serious. "I was kidnapped". "What" I said rolling eyes. "Not only that Tom. What I'm about to tell you will change your life forever. If I tell you this, you could be in great danger" he said. "Dude, just tell me" I said. " I don't think the guy, or it, was human" he said looking at the ground. "Dave, what's your problem?" I said standing up. "You have the balls to run out on your family, but you don't have the balls to tell me why you did it?" I said. He threw me against the wall and grabbed my shoulders. "Do you want the truth or not Tom" because I'm laying it all on the mat right now" he said. "This thing was not human, and I know. I escaped from it 6 months ago". "How did it kidnap you?" I said not believing a word he said. His voice was raised pretty high by now. I'm surprised his girlfriend didn't wake up. "My friends and I were driving around pretty far from town. We saw this old, beaten up house, and thought it would've been cool to go smoke some pot in there. "You smoked pot," I said in shock. "Tom, just listen," he said. "When we were walking over there, we saw something move inside. One of my friends thought it'd be sweet if we went inside, or went around the house, freaking this creature out. So we all split up, ran around the house, screaming and beating on the house. One of my friends beat the house so hard, that a piece of the wall practically burst into dust. So being dumb, he went inside, and tried to scare us guys that were still outside. Next thing I know, we started hearing screaming coming from inside. This thing, it actually tore my friend into pieces. It threw his head out the window, and he was still screaming. My friend and I started running towards the road, which wasn't that far. About a half mile I think. We got on the road, and kept running until it got dark.

After about a couple of hours, we heard a car coming, so we ran and hid in a bush. We saw that it was a cop car, so we ran back onto the road. The next 5 minutes happened like it was 5 seconds. The cop car slammed on the gas and went right for us. I dodged it, but my friend didn't. It got out of the car, and went over to my friend's body. He was still alive. But not for long. This, thing, it started sucking blood right from my friend's veins. I started puking. The creature heard me, and got back in its car. I ran onto the road and yelled the worst thing I knew. It turned the car all the way around and faced me. I couldn't see the car that good. The smoke from the cars tires was blowing around. Next thing I know, I wake up at its house. The rest I can't tell you now" he said sitting on the bed. "Thomas, you can't tell anyone what I just told you," he said. "Thomas, Thomas!" he said trying to get my attention. "I saw him," I said in shock. He shot at my car when me and Tara were on the highway". "Its ok Thomas, that's where I'm going. Away from this place, and you can come with me since you don't know where you're going" he said getting excited. "We can have parties, and it would be like were roommates. I got a friend who lives, about 2000 miles from here. He said I could stay with him. I'm sure he wouldn't a little more. What do you say?" he said smiling. "Dave, did you just hear what you said, about this thing?" I said surprised he could change the subject so fast. "I'm trying to forget," he said. "And I almost have, so stop reminding me of it. Now are you coming with my girl, and me or not" he said. "Let me tell you in the morning Dave, I got to get some sleep" I said. "Alright little brother. Sweet dreams," he said to me walking out the door.

I got back in our room, and laid on the bed. Tara was starting to slobber, so I went on the floor instead. I was trying to take in all that my brother said. I still couldn't believe him. But I saw what he was talking about. I saw that cop car. But if Dave could forget about it and move on, so could I.

When I woke up, I could smell food coming from Dave's room. Tara was gone. So I went over to Dave's room. Tara and Dave's girlfriend were talking. They were laughing really hard about something. "Where's Dave" I said. "He's in the office, paying the bill, then we are back on the road" Dave's girlfriend said lighting up a cigarette.

I went up to the front office, but Dave wasn't there. I didn't know what to do; I was starting to get bored. I started walking around the back of the hotel, hoping to find something interesting.

When I was walking on the side of the highway, I saw Dave up ahead. "Dave" I yelled getting his attention. "What are you doing man?" "We got to go," he said to me picking up the dirt left on the highway. "I know we do," I said. "No, I mean we really have to go, and I mean right now" he said. "What's going on?" I said getting nervous. "He was here," he said. "He probably is staring at us right now" he said again." "Dave, who is staring at us?" I said already knowing the answer. "It" he said. "It's staring at us," he said. "Come on, we don't have much time. Once it gets dark out, he'll get in his cop car, and start his killing streak again" he said. "Why does he pose as a cop?" I said wondering. "Cops have control, and it's easy to stop cars while driving a cop car, so it makes it easy for him. Sometimes, he even poses as a human form of a cop, which makes it even worse" he said. "How do you know so much about this thing?" I asked him curious. "I'll show you," he said. "Lets go".

We went back to the hotel and told the girls to start packing. And we told them to do it quick. "Are we going to tell them about this thing" I asked Dave putting the bags in the trunk. "No, we don't want to worry them " he said. "All we have to do outrun this thing, or find out how to beat it" he said closing the trunk. "Where are going to that out?" I asked. "Thomas, stop asking so many questions. I'm taking you there right now" he said. "Come on girls, were leaving with or without you" Dave yelled.

We got back on the highway. Dave was driving, and I was riding shotgun. Tara was sitting behind me, and Dave's girl was sitting behind him. "What's your name?" I asked Dave's girlfriend. She laughed a little. "It's Jamie," she said.

After a while of driving, it was starting to get dark. Dave turned up the metal music, and hit the gas. We were flying past cars, and all Dave did was go faster. "Dave, can you please turn that down, and go slower?" Jamie said. "I mean, there is no reason to go fast, unless you feel like getting pulled over," she said. Dave and I looked at each other, and grinned. We kept driving like this for 5 hours straight.

We were running out of gas fast. Tara and Jamie were sleeping in the back. "Dave, what now?" I whispered. "We need to find a gas station, and fast," he said. We saw a sign that said there would be a gas station about 20 miles up ahead.

I stared out the window, looking up at the moon. I swear it had to be raining season, because I haven't seen a dry night in weeks. Every night, it just kept raining. As I was looking around, I caught a glimpse of some shadow behind us. "Dave" I said. "Dave!" I yelled again. "What now Tom?" he said. I pointed behind us. We saw that this shadow was gaining speed, but we couldn't make out what it was; it was still way to dark. Dave starting gaining speed, hoping not to wake up the girls. We just kept the car steady, cautiously looking behind us. Out of nowhere, we saw red and blue. We looked behind us, and a cop car had its lights on. Dave and I looked at each other in shock. "What do I do?" Dave said getting more gas. "No!" I said. It might actually be a cop," I said again.

Dave pulled over to the curb, and we waited. Nothing was happening. We were sitting, on the side of the highway, while it's pitch dark out. No cars in sight, we might be in great danger. "Tom, should I just go?" he said. "No, we have to wait, see if it does anything" I said. "Just be careful, if it's really this thing you were talking about, he might fire at you, so stay in the car," I said.

After sitting in dead silence for an insanely long 45 minutes, the cop car door finally opened. Dave turned on the car, and got ready to hit the gas. We both stared at the car, waiting to see a figure come out. We saw a foot come out of the car, then 2 feet. The cop stood up. Before he did anything, he looked right at us, and just stared. It was too dark to make out his face, but you could see his eyes. They looked black almost. The cop started walking towards the car, and the moon lit up his face. He was human. Dave and I finally starting breathing in relief.

He knocked on the window, as a sign to roll it down. Dave shut off the car, and rolled down the window.

In possibly one of the deepest voices I've ever heard, he asked Dave for his license and registration. Dave handed the cop his information. The police officer stood for about 2 minutes looking at Dave's information. "Sir, can I ask you to walk back to my car?" the cop said. "Um, sure" Dave said confused. I started to worry. I looked back every second, making sure nothing bad happened to my brother. As Dave was walking to the car, he motioned me to turn on the car. When he did that, I started panicking. The cop must've seen that there was a warrant out on the Carmex brothers, Dave and I.

I turned back around and sat there, wondering what was going on back there. I couldn't take the not knowing, so I opened the door to walk out. "Thomas" get back in," Dave said walking back to the car. I got back in, and opened the door so Dave could get in. "We have to hurry" Dave said. "It's hungry," he said again. Out of nowhere, this fist smashed through the window, and the cop's real form came out. "You forgot your license, this beast said, laughing evil. "Go!" I screamed. Dave stepped on the gas, and I watched behind us. This creature was running towards us, still laughing. "Hurry up" I said. "I'm going 90 Dave said. The creature was still running towards us, so close to our car. "How is he doing that?" I said in shock. I finally believed every word Dave was saying back at the hotel. I looked at the girls, who were awake. They were so quiet, lying against the seat, in case any bullets came flying through the window. "What's going on"? Tara said crying. "It's going to be ok" I said. "We just had a little mix up with a cop" I said again, not wanting the girls to know that this was a creature were dealing with.

Dave starting to mess around with the creature. "Dave, what are you doing?" I said. He looked at me with a frown. "If we keep running, it'll keep chasing". He stopped the car. We watched behind us as the thing was running, as if it hadn't even lost any breath yet. When it was about 20 feet behind the car, Dave hit the gas, going in reverse. As we went farther back, we could see the thing's face. He looked morbid and gruesome. I thought I was going to puke. But before anything could've come out of my mouth, the back of the car smashed right into the Thing. We watched as it flew over the car and landed in front of it. "You Know Dave" I said with a smirk on my face. "This reminds me of the movie Jeepers Creepers," I said laughing. "Yah, it kind of does" Dave said laughing again. But The Thing standing up and brushing the glass of its shoulder interrupted our humor. "Go" I told Dave. "Hold On" he said staring into the eye of the thing. "Go!" I screamed at him again. He put the pedal to the metal and we both watched, as the thing was 20 feet in the air and landed face first.

Dave kept driving not looking back. The wind blew on our faces and the mist from the rain was hitting it. We looked back at the girls who were starting to realize that the cop was actually this monster. They didn't look shocked one bit though.

We saw a sign that said we'd enter a small town with about a population of 500 within an hour. That made us all happy. It really has been a long day, and I can't really handle much more. This is probably one of the first times ever that I wanted to actually go home. I'd rather be beaten by my step dad then have to face The Thing.

I looked at Dave strange when he pulled over to the side of the road. "Dave, what the hell are you doing?" I said. "Go". He looked at me, and pointed to the gas gauge. "Oh god" I said lying against the seat.

"You've got to be kidding me," Jamie said as she was looking out the back window. We saw two headlights heading this way. And fast too. Right then the rain starting pouring hard again. "Run!" Dave yelled getting out of the car. "Come on!" he said trying to open the back doors. The girls were trapped in and this car was coming right up on us.

We watched as it passed us splashing rain all over Dave. We all started laughing. "You should've see your face," I told Dave laughing. All of a sudden, the car did a u-turn and just sat there. "Run!" I said going back to the car trying to open Tara's door. "Climb to the front" Dave yelled grabbing Jamie from the car and running into the trees. I took Tara's hand and we followed Dave. It was like the Amazon in here. So many trees. We watched as the car burned out and turned and headed right for us. We watched as the car rammed right into a tree. We all kept running until we hit a log cabin.

Dave opened the door and said come on. "Wow Dave, I bet it won't look for us in there" I said with sarcasm. "I got an idea," I said taking off my shirt. I ripped it in half, and put it on the door. I slammed the door shut."

We kept running through the forest. Trees scraping against our faces. "Faster" Dave yelled as we saw The Thing enter the cabin. We kept running until we hit a field. It was a farm. "We kept running through the field until we got to the farm house. Jamie ran up to the door and started screaming banging on the door. She stopped banging on the door so she could catch her breath.

We all were silent, standing by the farmhouse, just trying to catch our breath. Out of nowhere, we heard something flying through the air. We all dropped to our feet. "Jamie!" Dave yelled. "Get down!" he yelled louder. But it was too late. We saw an arrowhead rip right through Jamie's Chest. "No!" screamed Dave getting up and running to her aid. "Dave, stay down!" I yelled. He ignored me.

He stood up and wiped the blood off his hands. I've never seen him with such an angry face before. He kicked down the door and told us to get in. "Are you ok" I said running up to him. "She was just another girl," Dave said wiping the tears off his face. We got inside the farmhouse, and ran up the stairs and hid in a closet. "Now what" Tara said. "We wait, we wait until this fuck goes away" Dave said.

A couple hours passed, and nothing, not a sound. Dave and Tara were sleeping, and I was so paranoid about The Thing coming, I couldn't even blink. Tara started moving, as a sign she was waking up. "I have to pee" she said opening the closet doors. "Be Careful" I said looking at her serious. I laid my head against the wall, and decided that once Tara got back, it was time to get out of here. I could still hear the rain pounding hard outside. I wouldn't be surprised if it was somewhat flooded outside.

Tara started screaming. I ran out of the closet and to the bathroom door. Tara was standing in the shower. "What the fuck are you doing," I told Tara. She couldn't keep her eyes off the bathroom window. So I slowly peaked my head at the window. The Thing's face was sitting there. He was just staring. He licked his teeth, and started laughing. "Run!" I said grabbing Tara's hand and running out of the bathroom. I went to the closet and kicked Dave. "What" he said angry. "It's here, The Thing's here!" I screamed at him.

The Thing was standing at the doorway. I grabbed Dave and Tara and flew out the window. We landed in a lake, which was supposed to be the yard. We started running, the heavy waters slowing us down. I turned back, watching The Thing jump out the window and landed on his feet. He cracked his neck and started running at us. He picked up a machete and flung it towards us. I pushed Dave and Tara to the ground and got down myself and we saw the machete fly right above us.

We got back up and ran into the forest. We kept running into forests. We looked back and saw The Thing wasn't chasing us.

We ran for about a half hour, before hitting a road. We stood in the trees by the road incase The Thing was driving on it. He just sat in the trees, hoping for a car to come, and hoping it wouldn't be The Thing.

"I'm going to go check on the road," Tara said getting up and leaving. Dave and I just sat in silence for about 5 minutes before Dave bringing up a sore subject. "So did you tell her yet?" Dave said looking at me. "Did I tell her what?" I said. "That you killed her father," he said grinning. "Whom the hell do you think you are bringing that up?" I said standing up. "She has a right to know" Dave said standing up as well. "Well I'll be the judge of that, and I'll be the one telling her Dave" I said. "She needs to know now, before she or anyone one of us die next," Dave said. "You just keep your fucking mouth shut Dave. You have no right to tell anyone anything. I'm mean come on, what kind of person abandons their family, when he has a little brother to take care of". "That was in the past Thomas, and is irrevalant at this point. It doesn't matter what I fuckin did in the past, what matters is that Tara's father is dead and she needs to know that you did it" Dave said raising his voice.

I saw Dave looking behind me in shock. I turned around to see Tara standing there, with shock all over her face. "Tara, I can explain," I said grabbing her arm. "No, no!" she said backing away. "You killed my father," she said. How could you do something like that, and not even tell me?" she said backing away still. "It's more complicated then that Tara, you need to listen". "No, I don't want to hear any part of your lame story. You killed my father, just because he roughed me up a little bit". "Tara, listen". I said yelling. "Tara, watch out!" I said. She backed right into The Thing.

He grabbed her head, and just twisted it like it was plastic. "No!" I screamed running after her. "Tom, no!" Dave said grabbing my hand and running. "We got to keep moving, or you'll be dead as well. I couldn't keep up with Dave. My legs were giving out. It was hard to run and cry at the same time. We saw a car on the highway. "It can't be The Thing," I said. "He was right behind us". Dave ran onto the road and stopped the driver. He got out of his car. "Are you guys ok?" he said looking at us scared. "Can you please give us a ride into town" Dave said catching his breath. "Of course" the driver said. "Get in".

No one moved. All we heard was something ripping through the air at the speed of light. Blood splattered out of the driver's head as he fell to the ground. "Get in!" Dave said getting into the driver's seat. He hit the gas and ran over the stranger in the process.

Dave kept driving and reduced speed once we entered the town. "Look for the cop shop" he said looking around.

We found one on the north side of Willow Creek, or whatever the town was called. I told Dave to wait in the car, since he had blood all over him from Jamie. When I got inside the cops stared at me. I went up to the desk and asked if I could speak to a cop privately. "Name Sir" he asked in a low voice. "Thomas Carmex" I said starting to get tired. "Sir, come with us" another cop said. "What's wrong?" I said pushing his hand away.

Right then I just remembered there was a warrant out for me for probably murder and a runaway. "It's ok, we just want to talk," he said to me grabbing me arm. "Fuck you" I said punching the cop in the face.

I ran outside and got back in the car. "Go man!" I said. "What the fuck happened" Dave said hitting the gas. "I forgot I have a warrant out" I said laughing. "Well fuck," he said.

We looked up as it was starting to get light out. Behind us, it was flooded with cop cars. "We can't get caught," I told Dave.

Present 

We watched as the water from the river was pouring into the car. Dave broke his window as I did the same to mine. We swam out as all the cops were firing bullets into the river like they were candy. Dave grabbed me and pulled me underwater. He started swimming towards the land. I was right behind him.

I was about to follow him, but something grabbed my foot.

I looked behind me. I started screaming, as I saw the evil face of The Thing getting ready to bite my foot off. I couldn't open my mouth because water would get in. I slapped Dave's foot to get his attention. He was just as shocked as me. "Pull" I screamed to Dave as water entered my mouth. The cops above were still firing into the water. Dave pulled me to land and pulled me out of the water. "Freeze!" we heard a cop yell. "Shoot it!" we yelled pointing to the figure getting out of the water. They didn't even point the gun at The Thing until the Thing took a stick lying on the ground and flung it through one of the cop's face.

They all almost emptied their guns at The Thing. Dave and I started running when we saw the cops run for the grenades in the back of their cars. The Thing was staring at us with his evil grin. "Run!" a cop yelled as he threw a grenade right towards The Thing. The Thing got one last lick of his teeth before the grenade exploded right by his face.

The impact of the grenade threw us to the ground, as we were right by the explosion.

The Thing stood there, with half a head, and fell back into the water. The cops on the bridge starting cheering and one of them yelled that help would arrive down there within minutes.

Dave and I sat down by the water and he started laughing. "Why the hell are you laughing?" I said starting to giggle myself. "Just think man, what the hell are we going to tell mom and dad," he said laughing. "We'll tell them the truth," I said. "We'll tell them that we got chased by a human eating monster, who loves to pose as a cop". "Yah, I bet they'll go right ahead and believe that," Dave said laughing.

Right at that moment, I saw a bubble come out of the water. "I just saw something," I said. "No you didn't, you're just paranoid" Dave said. Then he stared at the water as both stood up and backed away from it. Bubbles were coming up from the water. We looked up at the bridge, and it was empty. The clear sky started to flood with clouds, and we looked at each other.

The End 


End file.
